Designer and Punk Matron Vivienne Westwood Set to Release Memoir

Dame Vivienne Westwood, the British fashion designer, environmental activist, Mother of Punk and overall badass, has authorized a memoir/biography co-written by historian and close friend Ian Kelly. Expected for release in October of 2014, Westwood and her partner Malcolm McLaren helped create the visualization of the punk movement in the 1970s.

When Westwood met McLaren she was a primary school teacher who designed clothes as hobby. In 1971, at 430 King’s Road, McLaren opened a boutique originally named “Let it Rock” but later became known as “Sex”. The controversial shop created clothes inspired by Westwood’s British background, bikers, fetishes and prostitutes. While this boutique was open, McLaren became the manager of the Sex Pistols and Westwood was known for their iconic looks. Westwood also created the God Save the QueenPunk Rock icon shirts.

430 King’s Road Period Room courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

As the punk movement of the 1970s faded into the 1980s, Westwood kept her brand strong and stayed ahead of her time. In 1981, Westwood presented her first catwalk show for the Worlds End Label. In 1985 she discontinued the Worlds End Label to work on her Vivienne Westwood lines. In the 2000s, Westwood collaborated with Wolford (knitting), Nine West (shoes) and Prudence Millinery (hats) to create some groundbreaking pieces. Westwood is widely known for the stunning strapless, ivory “Lily of the Valley” wedding dress that Carrie Bradshaw (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) wore in the 2008 movie Sex and the City, even though Westwood herself could not stomach the actual movie.

As a game-changer in every aspect of her life, Westwood was and is still a widely known political and environmental activist. She has publicly spoken against consumerism, violation of human and civil rights, the secrecy of the government, climate change and other environmental harms. Westwood also donates a large portion of her money to organizations funding the saving of the rain forests and the Arctic circle.

Still very active in the fashion industry and on the political front, Westwood’s modern works have not gone unnoticed. In 1992, she was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II, advanced to a DBE (Dame of the British Empire) in 2006 and has been awarded British Designer of the Year twice. Her works have been on display in the National Gallery of Australia (Vivienne Westwood: 34 Years In Fashion) and in the recent Punk to Chaos exhibit in the The Metropolitan Museum of Art ( New York, New York).

According to Vogue UK, Westwood is excited about the upcoming memoir/biography. “The living deserve respect. The dead deserve the truth; Ian and I are working together on this and I am excited that this will be my story, the story nobody ever did before,” said Westwood.

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